Areas of Tennessee experienced a major national disaster recently; did you know? Homes are under water, highways and streets are impassable, 28 people have died and missing people are unaccounted for, Nashville landmarks have flooded and there is a water conservation emergency. Preliminary damage estimates are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions. President Obama declared four counties a federal disaster area Tuesday. The Tennessean has extensive coverage of the flood but you’ll have to search below the fold for coverage on just about every other major news site. Granted, a Pakistani-American man failed to detonate a bomb in Times Square over the weekend, so the media must devote nearly all of its time and energy to covering that story.

12 Responses to “Nashville is drowning”

I was in Nashville yesterday and it indeed was incredible to see an NFL stadium and NHL hockey rink full of water – they had pictures of steamboats floating down first avenue, thats the last time anything close happened. Opryland hotel was ironically flooded, they have huge water-themed conservatories now in real life swamped. Those were some really big storms.

The lack of coverage is appalling. Actual loss of life, actual major damage to homes, cities, counties, states. Does it seem to anyone else that the media is basically shrugging their shoulders and muttering “Been there, done that” with flooding coverage? It’s as if they believe they did their due diligence with their Katrina coverage and now they can return to what really matters: unnuanced coverage of terrorism and celebrities. What do you want to bet that Chely Wright coming out generates more coverage.

I live in Nashville. While my family and I were very fortunate that none of us lost everything (some damage, but nothing insurmountable) so many people have lost…everything. Just everything. And the true amount of damage is still unknown.

My city is drowned. It’s heartbreaking. While the loss of life and livelihood is unreal, there are also the smaller losses of cultural landmarks that will never be the same, history lost (some archives were destroyed with info that can never be reclaimed), even just everyday things that will forever be…different…wrong. That barn that when I drive past always means I’m almost home? Flooded to the roof and likely to have to be torn down. That big house across from my nephew’s school that’s been there as long as anyone remembers? Floated away. Literally. It’s all just surreal.

And there are piranhas loose in the mall. No lie. Piranhas. In the mall.

It’s a top story on CNN right now, but shockingly, it bumped the oil spill, not the would-be terrorist (even though there’s absolutely nothing new about the New York thing – the only thing changing in that story is the picture).

I’m guessing someone in power thinks that having the two top stories be about the South would be unforgivably regional. Even if they are to two most important stories in the country right now.

Living for a spell in Tornado Alley made me a devotee of the Weather Channel. No matter how much fun people poke at me, I always check in so I’ve seen quite a bit about the flooding.

For those who’d like to help, you might consider donating to the Red Cross. I know when the town I was living in was hit by a tornado, the Red Cross was there every day for weeks helping people pick up the pieces.

@FreshPeaches: Which mall!? Opry Mills? I’ve been following the story closely – I lived in Nashville for three years and have lots of friends there (who are all okay, thankfully) – but it’s hard to get a grip on just how extensive the damage is. And I’ve been trying to make comparisons for people up here in Portland – we are also in a city with a downtown bisected by a river – but it’s really tough for people to get it, especially given the utter media coverage fail.

The footage of downtown is INSANE, especially the symphony building. And the Opryland! As hilariously schmaltzy as that place is, it’s an institution. I took everyone who came to visit me to the Opryland. A boyfriend took me there just to walk after a Valentine’s dinner. I read that it’ll be six months before it’s repaired. That’s a huge economic loss, too, what with all the conventions and tourists that stay there. A friend of mine, who lived in New Orleans before moving to Nashville summed it up well on his Facebook, I thought: “Quite frankly, I’m tired of seeing cities I’ve known and loved underwater.” Best wishes to you and your loved ones, and everyone in Tennessee.

I saw on Rachel Maddow that the Red Cross is taking text donations like they did for Haiti – 90999 sends them $10 should any of you be so inclined.